Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
JANUARY 2024 SCIENCE FICTION MICROSTORY CONTEST (Comments only)
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Happy New Year to all -May 2024 turn out better for this tired world.
As a procedural point -I request that everyone confine comments to the comments section (not the story section) and that when posting a critique, that they please specify the story title and/or author.
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Jot wrote: "I deleted the extra comments on the stories thread. Figured I wait a couple days just to make sure they were seen."Thank you, Jot.
Mod
Good morning, in all fairness, they probably couldn't read which thread is which. I used the app and it cuts off after Microsto...
Good morning and happy New Year everybody, it's been a crazy week or two here in Wisconsin, no internet, no furnace due to a power surge after the storms and Sub-Zero weather.I'm looking forward to reading everybody's stories!!
Carrie wrote: "Good morning, in all fairness, they probably couldn't read which thread is which. I used the app and it cuts off after Microsto..."Hope all is well Carrie! Crazy weather there.
Chris wrote: "Was able to get one in this month!"'Glad you did, Chris. Excellent story. Good flow of dialogue, strong linear progression and great finish.
I've missed you.
Thanks, Tom! My imagination kinda went nuts with this one. I don't know where these ideas come from sometimes!
If we ever find out where our ideas come from, it will just kill the magic.
Mod
Hey Jot!Rumors - not roomers. :) At least, I think that's what you meant.
I just posted a bunch of critiques. Note that I am using the same format I used last month: a summary, so the author can gauge my reading comprehension, followed by what I liked most and what I think could make the story stronger. I deliberately leave out the author's name because I think it's cleaner to not have some personality in mind when reading the critique.I find the exercise of writing critiques helps my own writing by forcing me to articulate my ideas and thereby hold them up to my own scrutiny.
Thanks J.F.It looks like a common thread is that politics is hard to cram into 750 words (can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly found it hard, hence the annecdotal-type story).
I just added a critique of Thaddeus' story to the existing comment.
Nice job on the critiques, Tom! More detailed than mine.
Thank you Tom and J.F. for your reviews! I really appreciate the feedback and your thoughts, and you taking the time to share them.
Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Was able to get one in this month!"'Glad you did, Chris. Excellent story. Good flow of dialogue, strong linear progression and great finish.
I've missed you."
Thanks, Tom. Unfortunately, my schedule the last couple of years has made me a little inconsistent with getting any writing done.
Carrie wrote: "Good morning, in all fairness, they probably couldn't read which thread is which. I used the app and it cuts off after Microsto..."This can (sometimes) by rotating the phone to get landscape display...
Your critique design has made the process much easier, J.F. And, straight to the point. Thank you for the time and effort.
Justin wrote: "Thank you Tom and J.F. for your reviews! I really appreciate the feedback and your thoughts, and you taking the time to share them."Always a pleasure, Justin.
Tom, I should give credit for the critique design to writer Elizabeth Benedict, who taught a writing workshop I attended last year. It's pretty much what we used in the workshop.https://www.goodreads.com/elizabethbe...
I will probably apply for the workshop again this year. It's in Saratoga Springs, NY, in June and July, and part of the New York State Writers Institute summer program. More info: https://www.skidmore.edu/summerwriter...
Mod
Heading up to the Catskills tomorrow to do a little skiing. First time in eight years, so I'll definitely be taking it easy
Good evening, everyone. Sorry I have not been more communicative, as I have been on the grind for a new job since my last real writing gig ended about nine months ago. It was a great job with the video game industry but if you are reading the papers, the industry has been purging workers like crazy with upwards of 20,000 people in the last two or so years.
Thank you for the votes on this very difficult story writing task, which is why I choose from my ongoing saga of short stories called tentatively "More Tales of Tech Support" which follows the madcap adventures of a technical support group who fields calls from world be world-conquering villains in need of product support from a mysterious agency claiming to support the needs of the "aspiring super-villain."
However, as the short stories reveal, many villains while wanting world conquering weapons, technology and resources, are just as inclined as the rest of us to NOT read the instructions, not follow directions or to use a product in an unintended manner.
This particular story reveals a technology which could be capable of making anyone able to rule the world, just not the world they LIVE on. They would forever be locked in a parallel reality if they were trying to change the world.
Instead, the company keeps this particular technology for itself, using it to send recruits back to a time before they applied for a job, forgetting everything they knew and thus do not have to be eliminated for knowing too much about the company.
This is literally a discussion about creating and managing some of the most powerful people in the world, ironically because they insist on taking shortcuts toward the transfer of power.
The main protagonist Todd, has access to the most incredible technology in the world and understands, no good can come from using most of these products because they are simply too dangerous for anyone to use. Ironically, anyone foolish enough to call for Farnsworth's products usually doesn't survive the experience.
One is left to wonder if Farnsworth means for this to be the case... Preventing the transfer of power, perhaps?
I will post a new prompt as soon as I get a moment and I promise it will be something which won't cause our minds to explode trying to cover it.
I would like to suggest we hold a membership drive, to bring in new writers. I know it becomes more of a challenge when new writers arrive, but I believe we all become better for seeing their work, critiquing their writing and being exposed to new and divergent ways of seeing the Universe.
Happy New Year to you and as we enter the year of the Wood Dragon, I hope it will be prosperous and engender creativity in us all.
Thaddeus
Thaddeus, any chance of another anthology any time soon? Sounds like you're close, and my copy of Hayward's Reach could use some company.
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I've just been accepted for the writing workshop again this summer in Saratoga Springs, NY. If anyone is interested in trying it, the cost is $2K for a two-week workshop. You also get to do a 5-minute public reading of your work for all the attendees. Because of that limit, people invariably read poems but we can read our stories (I read my story "Move" last year) because they mostly can be read in 5 minutes. https://www.skidmore.edu/summerwriter...
Congratulations, J.F. It sounded last year like a terrific workshop--great you'll be doing it again this year!
Element: Transfer of Power (Peaceful or Not)
We have Democracies, Theocracies, Oligarchies, Royal Families and Dictatorships. What other systems of government could be out there? Do other races crave power or loathe it? What do they think of the human solution?